Geisinger Head Pleads for Community Support in Stemming COVID-19 Spread
DANVILLE – Dr. Jaewon Ryu, Geisinger President and CEO, was blunt in a media briefing on Friday: the community at large has to do more to “stem the tide” of increasing COVID-19 cases. He said staff members across the Geisinger service area are “tired…and at it for a long time but we’re going to keep fighting,” a reference to dealing with the coronavirus since March of this year. “We’re pleading with you (the community at large)…to please be mindful of the precautionary measures” which he once more stated as mask-wearing and avoidance of large gatherings.
He said, “We’re entering a critical juncture…the (case) growth is very concerning over the last two weeks” and continuing to rise in recent days. The Geisinger CEO said the community at large has been the driver of the growth in cases and the community needs to be the driver in reducing cases by observing the basic mitigation recommendations. Ryu said hospital workers are “bailing water from the bottom of the boat but it has a hole in it” and called on the public to focus on COVID prevention to stop additional spread. He said if the community follows the guidelines to a greater degree, “We could literally save hundreds of lives” but presently, “We’re seeing a full-blown community spread.”
According to the latest numbers, Ryu said, roughly one in four of those tested are testing positive for COVID and said, “Think about that when going into the grocery store.”
Asked about recent vaccine news, Ryu said the first batches may be available to Geisinger as soon as next week or the following week, but to “meaningfully penetrate” the population at large may take the better part of six months or more. He said Geisinger has a distribution team established to begin a vaccination program and said initial recipients will be frontline health care workers and higher risk patients such as those in nursing homes.
The state Health Department on Friday reported the most one-day cases to date, 11,763, and the fourth most deaths, 169.
